Covering system for insulation devices on (load-bearing) structures

ABSTRACT

A covering system for insulation devices ( 2 ) on (load-bearing) structures, having a connecting device ( 24 ), consisting of a carrier surface ( 28 ), which has touch-and-close fastener elements ( 30 ), which can be connected to correspondingly designed touch-and-close fastener elements ( 22 ), is characterized in that a reactive functional surface ( 36 ) is fitted, as a further component of the connecting device ( 24 ), on the side ( 34 ) of the carrier surface ( 28 ), said side being directed away from the touch-and-close fastener elements ( 30 ), and the reactive functional surface bonds permanently, under predeterminable shaping pressure and at a predeterminable reaction temperature, to a preferably closed-cell foam is material ( 4; 26 ) of the respective insulation device ( 2 ).

The invention relates to a covering system for insulation devices on structure work and support structures, having a connecting device consisting of a support surface, which has touch-and-close fastening elements, which can be connected to correspondingly designed touch-and-close fastening elements. In addition, the invention also relates to a connecting device for such a covering system.

A covering system of this kind is already known from DE 10 2010 047 242 A1. In the known system, heat insulation panels may be affixed to a construction-side subsurface, such as masonry, by means of anchoring elements in the manner of plug screws. Retaining plates that protrude slightly from the outside of the heat insulation panels are located at the ends of the anchoring elements facing away from the construction-side subsurface, said retaining plates forming mounting locations far components, for example in the form of plate-shaped facade elements. These structural elements are anchored by means of a touch-and-close fastening, formed out of touch-and-close fastening elements, which are fixed on the side of the heat insulation panels to the plate-shaped mounting locations, and which are fixed by touch-and-close fastening elements of a connecting device that correspond thereto, said elements being located on the side of the plate-shaped component that is facing the heat insulation panels. This connecting device has a support surface, which, having one side in contact with a large area of the respective plate-shaped component, is permanently connected thereto, and which, at the other side of said support surface, forms the touch-and-close fastening elements, which can be engaged in an adhesive-like engagement with the corresponding touch-and-close fastening elements at the plate-like mounting locations. This type of anchoring by forming a touch-and-close fastening makes it possible to quickly and easily affix the plate-shaped structural elements, wherein there is an advantageous option of subsequently adjusting or, if necessary, exchanging structural elements by releasing the touch-and-close fastening. The known solution is not satisfactory in so far as the dependability of the fixture is dependent on the condition of the plate-shaped structural elements. As a result, the reliable attachment of the support surface having the touch-and-close fastening elements is thus strongly dependent on the surface condition of the respective component that is to be affixed, so that one is limited to the use of materials that are suitable for the facade element that is to be affixed. In particular, difficulties arise in the case of structural elements made out of closed-celled foam materials.

With respect to these problems, the object of the invention is to provide a covering system that, while retaining the advantages of the above mentioned prior art, makes a reliable fastening of components that are made out of closed-celled foam materials.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a covering system having the features of Claim 1 in its entirety.

In accordance with the characterizing part of Claim 1, an essential feature is that a reactive functional surface is affixed on the side of the support surface facing away from the touch-and-close fastening elements as an additional component of the connecting device, which reactive functional surface bonds permanently to a preferably closed-celled foam material of the respective insulation device at a predeterminable shaping pressure and at a predeterminable reaction temperature. As a result, unlike a conventional adhesive bond between the support surface and the associated component by means of a reactive functional surface located on the support surface, a melting process occurs under pressure that is carried out at a reaction temperature, allowing a reliable bonding of the support surface with components, even when said components have a surface condition that is unfavorable for conventional adhesive connections. In particular, the advantageous option of reliably affixing the carrier to components having an unfavorable surface condition is thereby made available, for example on preferably closed-celled foam materials, for example made out of foam or cellular glass or out of a Styrofoam material.

In an advantageous manner, the reaction surface is laminated as a film on the support surface or otherwise connected thereto in a form-locking or material-locking manner.

In especially advantageous embodiments, the reactive functional surface may additionally be connected to a grid or net structure, which completely covers the support surface, and which is preferably reactively connected thereto. The connecting device thus formed is distinguished by particularly favorable structural properties.

In embodiments of this kind, the support surface may be permanently, directly connected by the reactive functional surface thereof, or permanently connected by the grid or net structure thereof to the preferably closed-celled foam material of the respective insulation device.

For a connection with a foam or cellular glass as a preferably closed-celled foam material, the reactive functional surface may advantageously be formed out of a thermo-adhesive film made of polyurethane resin. During the molding process, it is desirable that polyurethane also enters into a chemical bond with the binding agent, which is usually mixed with the cellular glass. The reactive functional surface may also be designed for a bond with a Styrofoam material, such as a preferably closed-celled foam material made out of a modified polyethylene.

in terms of the support surface, the arrangement may preferably be such that said support surface is formed out of a velour having closed pile threads, or out of a knit fabric, preferably out of a polyamide 6 plastic material.

In terms of the design of the touch-and-close fastening, the arrangement may be advantageously such that one of the touch-and-close fastening elements is a hook closure material, which can be permanently connected to wall parts of the structure work or support structure, or to the side of the respective insulation device, which side is facing the touch-and-close fastening elements of the support surface of the connecting device.

In the production of the connection with the aid of the reactive functional surface, it is possible to advantageously proceed such that, in the case of a reaction temperature of 120° C to 150° C., preferably between 130° C. and 150° C., especially preferably between 135° C. and 140° C., the reactive functional surface, which is designed as a polyurethane film, enters into the connection with the foam or cellular glass in the case of a predeterminable shaping pressure, because in this region, the binding agent, which is mixed with the foam or, respectively, cellular glass, is fully cured at the desired speed. In so doing, the binding agent not only connects the individual granules of foam and cellular glass with one another, but it is also desirable that it enter into a chemical bond with the polyurethane film. The temperature behavior of the film is also selected in such a way that a specific viscosity range is achieved at the point in time at which shape forming occurs so that it enters into a form-locking connection to the foam and cellular glass. During demolding/cooling, the selected thermoplastic material exhibits sufficient cohesion to dernold the bond that has been formed in a form-locking manner.

In one type of insulation device, in which the connecting device is allocated to a plate-shaped structural element made out of foam or cellular glass, the covering system may have the following structure:

-   velour, -   reactive functional surface, -   grid or net structure, -   foam or cellular glass and -   grid structure.

In an insulation device, in which the connecting device is disposed on an insulating material that is to be applied to a construction-side subsurface, the covering system may have the following structure:

-   velour, -   reactive functional surface, -   closed-celled foam material, preferably in the form of Styrofoam or     polyurethane foam and -   optionally as a finish, a foam or cellular glass covering for the     closed-celled foam material.

According to Claim 11, the subject matter of the invention is also a connecting device for a covering system according to the invention.

Additional design features of the connecting device are set forth in the following claims 12 to 15.

The invention is explained in detail below on the basis of embodiments that are depicted in the drawings. Shown are:

FIG. 1 a broken longitudinal section of an insulation device for buildings, which is equipped with an embodiment of the covering system according to the invention, wherein components of the associated connecting device and of a touch-and-close fastening formed therewith are highly schematically simplified and not depicted to scale;

FIG. 2 an oblique perspective view of the connecting device of an embodiment of the covering system according to the invention, as seen from the side of the support surface that is facing away from the touch-and-close fastening elements;

FIG. 3 an oblique view of the connecting device of a modified embodiment of the invention similar to that in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 a highly schematically simplified, enlarged and exploded view of the structure of an embodiment of the covering system, in which the connecting device shown in FIG. 3 is provided, and

FIG. 5 a depiction similar to that in FIG. 4 of the structure of the covering system according to the invention in use in another kind of insulation device.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the covering system according to the invention in conjunction with an insulation device 2, which has a succession of insulating panels 4, which have been affixed to a construction-side subsurface such as masonry 6. The insulating panels 4, of which succession only one is visible in FIG. 1, are made out of mineral wool or out of a closed-celled foam material such as Styrofoam or polyurethane. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, the insulating panels 4 are attached by means of plug screws 8 having a flat head 18. The outside of each of the flat heads 18 forms a mounting location for the covering system 20 allocated to the insulation device 2. For this purpose, a touch-and-close fastening element 22 is fixed to the outer surface of each of the flat heads 18, for example by adhesion or welding in the case of touch-and-close fastening elements consisting of plastic.

In the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, the covering system 20 has plate-shaped structural elements 26 as covering parts, which serve as facade elements and of which only one structural element 26 is visible in FIG. 1. In the case of these structural elements 26, these are a closed-celled foam material, preferably in the form of a so-called foam or cellular glass. The use of foam or cellular glass is ecologically advantageous because this building material can be manufactured out of recycled waste glass, wherein the collected waste glass can be completely recycled in a closed recycling in closed-loop recycling. This building material is very well suited as a facade element because foam or cellular glass is light-weight, heat insulating, sound insulating, pressure-resistant, non-flammable, acid resistant, pest-proof and easy to handle. In principle, recycling is also possible in that the foam or cellular glass can be melted down again.

As a foam material, such building materials do not offer particularly favorable conditions for the formation of a permanent connection to the associated structure work or support structure. The covering system according to the invention solves this problem by means of the special design of the connecting device 24. Details of the structure of the connecting device 24 are clearly apparent in the further FIGS. 2 to 5. The main component of the connecting device 24 is a support surface 28, which forms a touch-and-close fastening element 30 on one side. This corresponds to the touch-and-close fastening element 22, which is located at the respective mounting location of the insulation device 2, or more precisely, on the plate-shaped cover parts 18 on the insulating panels 4. In the present example, the touch-and-close fastening element 30 on the respective support surface 28 has interlocking elements in the form of mesh or loops, which interact with hook or mushroom-shaped interlocking elements of the appropriate touch-and-close fastening elements 22 of the insulation device 2. In the present example, the support surface 28 is formed out of a velour having closed pile threads or out of a knit fabric, for example out of a polyamide 6 plastic material. The known method described in DE 10 2008 007 913 A1 may be used in order to form the interlocking elements 32 on the velour of the support surface 28 and the interlocking elements for the touch-and-close fastening elements 22 of the insulation device 2. In the case of the present example, the interlocking elements 32 of the touch-and-close fastening element 30 of the support surface 28 of the connecting device 24 are formed as mesh or loops, while in the case of the touch-and-close fastening elements 22, the interlocking elements are formed having a mushroom-shape.

A functional surface 36 is affixed on the side 34 of the support surface 28 facing away from the touch-and-close fastening elements 30 as an additional component of the connecting device 24. This functional surface is laminated as a film on the support surface 28 or otherwise connected thereto in a form-locking or material-locking manner. In order to establish a permanent connection to a closed-celled foam material in the form of a foam or cellular glass, the reactive functional surface 36 is made out of a thermo-adhesive film made of polyurethane resin. When a Styrofoam material is used as a closed-celled foam material, the functional surface 36 is formed out of a polyethylene. Through the application of pressure and heat, this thermo-adhesive layer makes possible a permanent connection to the closed-celled foam material of the appropriate structural element 26, for example made out of foam or cellular glass. In the case where a polyurethane film is used as a functional surface 36, the connection may be formed by way of melting at reaction temperatures in the range of 120° C. to 150° C. with a shaping pressure in the range of approximately 150 bar. In the case of a polyurethane resin, a reaction temperature between 135° C. and 140° C. may preferably be used.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show that the functional surface 36 is additionally covered by a grid or net structure 38, which is reactively connected to the functional surface 36. The grid structure 38 may be formed out of a glass fiber fabric.

As FIG. 4 also shows, optionally, a grid structure 40 may likewise be affixed to the side of the structural element 26 that is facing away from the connecting device 24, as is also the case with the grid structure 38. This may serve as a basic element for an exterior plaster for a facade, for example.

While FIG. 4 illustrates the structure of the connecting system 24 for an insulation device 2, such as that which is shown in FIG. 1, where the insulating panels 4 are in contact with the construction-side masonry 6, FIG. 5 elucidates a structure in which the connecting device 24 creates the permanent connection between the masonry 6 and heat insulation panels 4. In this case, the reactive functional surface 36 makes possible the permanent connection of the support surface 28 to the closed-celled foam material of the insulating panels 4, for example made out of Styrofoam or polyurethane. On the other hand, a structural element or facade element such as the structural element 26 formed out of foam or cellular glass may optionally be affixed to the outside 42 of the heat insulation panels 4, which is not shown in FIG. 5, wherein again, a connecting device 24 would be provided with a support surface 28 and functional surface 36 for the connection to the outside 42. Again, an additional grid and net structure 38 may be provided on the functional surface 36 of the respective connecting device 24 as part of the connecting device 24 in the system from FIG. 5. 

1. A covering system for insulation devices (2) on structure work and support structures, having a connecting device (24) consisting of a support surface (28), which has touch-and-close fastening elements (30), which can be connected to correspondingly designed touch-and-close fastening elements (22), characterized in that a reactive functional surface (36) is affixed on the side (34) of the support surface (28) facing away from the touch-and-close fastening elements (30) as an additional component of the connecting device (24), which reactive functional surface bonds permanently to a preferably closed-celled foam material (4; 26) of the respective insulation device (2) at a predeterminable shaping pressure and at a predeterminable reaction temperature.
 2. The covering system according to claim 1, characterized in that the reactive functional surface (36) is laminated as a film on the support surface (28) or otherwise connected thereto in a form-locking or material-locking manner.
 3. The covering system according to claim 1, characterized in that the reactive functional surface (36) is connected to a grid or net structure (38), which completely covers the support surface (28), and which is preferably reactively connected thereto.
 4. The covering system according to claim 1, characterized in that the support surface (28) is permanently, directly connected by the reactive functional surface (36) thereof, or permanently connected by the grid or net structure (38) thereof to the preferably closed-celled loam material (4; 26) of the respective insulation device (2).
 5. The covering system according, to claim 1, characterized in that the reactive functional surface (36) is formed out of a preferably closed-celled foam material made out of a thermo-adhesive film made of polyurethane resin for a connection to a foam or cellular glass (26), or m that the reactive functional surface (36) is formed out of a preferably closed-celled foam material made out of a modified polyethylene for a connection to a Styrofoam material (4).
 6. The covering system according to claim 1, characterized in that the support surface (28) is formed out of a velour having closed pile threads, or out of a knit fabric, preferably a polyamide 6 plastic material.
 7. The covering system according to claim 1, characterized in that one of the touch-and-close fastening elements (22, 30) is a hook closure material (22), which can be permanently connected to wall parts (18) of the structure work or support structure, or to the side of the respective insulation device (2), which side is facing the touch-and-close fastening elements (30) of the support surface (28) of the connecting device.
 8. The covering system according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the case of a reaction temperature of 120° C. to 150° C. preferably between 130° C. and 150° C., especially preferably between 135° C. and 140° C., the reactive functional surface (36), which is thermoplastically formed, enters into the connection to the foam or cellular glass (26) as a preferably closed-celled foam material.
 9. The covering system according to claim 1, characterized in that in the case of one kind of insulation device (2), said covering system has the following structure: velour (28), reactive functional surface (36), grid or net structure (38), foam or cellular glass (26) and grid structure (40).
 10. The covering system according to claim 1, characterized in that in the case of a further kind of insulation device (2), said covering system has the following structure; velour (28), reactive functional surface (36), closed-celled foam material (4), preferably in the form of Styrofoam or polyurethane foam, and optionally as a finish, a foam or cellular glass covering for the closed-celled foam material.
 11. A connecting device for a covering system according to claim 1, consisting of a support surface that has been provided with a touch-and-close fastening elements (30), wherein a reactive functional surface (36) has been affixed to the side (34) of said support surface facing away from the touch-and-close fastening elements (30), which reactive functional surface can be permanently connected to a preferably closed-celled foam material (4; 26) of the respective covering system at a predeterminable shaping pressure and at a predeterminable reaction temperature.
 12. The connecting device according to claim 11, characterized in that the reactive functional surface (36) is laminated as a film on the support surface (28) or otherwise connected thereto in a form-locking or material-locking manner.
 13. The connecting device according to claim 11, characterized in that the reactive functional surface (36) is connected to a grid or net structure (38), which completely covers the support surface (28), and which is preferably reactively connected thereto.
 14. The connecting device according to claim 11, characterized in that the reactive functional surface (36) is formed out of a preferably closed-celled foam material made out of a thermo-adhesive film made of polyurethane resin for a connection to a foam or cellular glass (26), or in that the reactive functional surface (36) is formed out of a preferably closed-celled foam material made out of a polyethylene for a connection to a Styrofoam material (4).
 15. The connecting device according to claim 11, characterized in that die support surface (28) is formed out of a velour having closed pile threads, or out of a knit fabric, preferably out of a polyamide 6 plastic material. 